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Speaker 1: It's that time, time, time, time, Luck and load. So

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Speaker 1: Michael Verie Show is on the air.

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Speaker 2: Creative director Jim Mudd ably sitting in for Ramone Roeblist

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Speaker 2: for the first part of the show. Today, Ramone is

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Speaker 2: at his.

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Speaker 3: Oldest son, July's school.

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Speaker 2: I believe July is in the third grade, Is that right?

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Speaker 2: I think it's the third grade. And the reason is

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Speaker 2: July was being pinned with some sort of an award

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Speaker 2: or maybe this was his.

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Speaker 3: Student council ascension.

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Speaker 2: So it's a great story, you know, because kids are

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Speaker 2: so emotional, they're so tied into the moment, and if

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Speaker 2: they look forward to something and it doesn't happen, they're

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Speaker 2: just devastated. Well, July had decided that he was going

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Speaker 2: to run for student council president. This was a big deal,

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Speaker 2: and Ramona and Amy had said, you know, if you're

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Speaker 2: going to do this, you need to think about what

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Speaker 2: you're going to say and what you're going to do

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Speaker 2: and whether you really want to do this.

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Speaker 3: Okay, it's a big lesson here.

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Speaker 2: So July had worked up his speech in his mind,

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Speaker 2: and the event is going to be next Thursday, so

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Speaker 2: he had kind of worked out his speech and they

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Speaker 2: had spent the weeks before writing it, and this is

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Speaker 2: how his speech went.

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Speaker 3: Good morning everyone.

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Speaker 2: My name is July, and just like the month, I'm

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Speaker 2: here to bring some sunshine to and then his school's name,

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Speaker 2: we'll call his school Ridgemont. I'm here to bring some

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Speaker 2: sunshine to Ridgemont. Now I'm not here to talk about

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Speaker 2: the weather. But wouldn't it be awesome if our school

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Speaker 2: days were as bright as a July afternoon? If you

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Speaker 2: elect me Student Council President, I promised to work hard

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Speaker 2: so that every student can shine. Whether you're a star

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Speaker 2: in math, a champ at recess, or just love a

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Speaker 2: good book. I'll make sure we all have the tools

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Speaker 2: to succeed. And don't worry, I'm not just full of

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Speaker 2: hot air like a summer breeze.

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Speaker 3: Ease.

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Speaker 2: I'm ready to make real changes, like making school as

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Speaker 2: fun as building your dream world in roadblocks. Imagine a

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Speaker 2: place where learning is as cool as leveling up, and

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Speaker 2: every student gets a chance to be the hero of

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Speaker 2: their own story. Plus, I'll make sure everyone's ideas are heard,

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Speaker 2: whether it's about new activities, better snacks, are even more

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Speaker 2: awesome field trips. Together, we can create a Ridgemont that's

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Speaker 2: exciting for everyone.

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Speaker 3: So let's heat things up this year.

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Speaker 2: Vote July for student council, and together we'll make Ridgemont the.

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Speaker 3: Coolest school around.

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Speaker 2: That was the plan, and technically he could have read it,

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Speaker 2: but the plan was to have finished it a week

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Speaker 2: early so that he'd have some semblance of that memorized

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Speaker 2: and could deliver it right.

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Speaker 3: Except the teacher.

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Speaker 2: Gave him the wrong date. So he comes strolling in

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Speaker 2: a week before election day on a Thursday, sits down

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Speaker 2: in his chair, and the teacher says, well, today is

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Speaker 2: the day that we are electing our student council president.

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Speaker 2: We have three candidates in our class for student council president,

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Speaker 2: and so July you're first. And he was apparently devastated.

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Speaker 2: He didn't have his speech with him. He had finished

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Speaker 2: writing it, but not preparing it or memorizing it, familiarizing

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Speaker 2: himself with it. So he shuffled up.

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Speaker 3: In front of the class and he's an over July

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Speaker 3: Augustus Roeblis and.

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Speaker 2: I want to I want to go on more field

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Speaker 2: trips and have better bathrooms, and then kind of mumbled

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Speaker 2: and stumbled through a little bit more and sat down.

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Speaker 3: He went home and he was just devastated. The day

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Speaker 3: was all wrong.

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Speaker 2: Ramone thinks the teacher gave him the wrong day. I

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Speaker 2: think Ramone, like most parents, is covering for July, and

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Speaker 2: July made a mistake.

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Speaker 3: But who knows.

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Speaker 2: It could very well could be teacher could have made

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Speaker 2: a mistake either way. He's absolutely devastated. How could this happen? Inconsolable. Well,

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Speaker 2: that was on Thursday.

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Speaker 3: The results did not come out.

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Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, was sorry. That was on a Friday.

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Speaker 2: So all the little students vote and all that. It's

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Speaker 2: very long weekend in the robless home for what could

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Speaker 2: have been. You know, you're thinking of John Edwards when

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Speaker 2: he was caught, you know, in his scandal, or Gary

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Speaker 2: Hart and his scandal, or Ted Kennedy in nineteen eighty

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Speaker 2: when he was asked.

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Speaker 3: By Roger Mudd.

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Speaker 2: Exactly why are you running? And he looked like a

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Speaker 2: deer in the headlines. He couldn't, couldn't think of the answer,

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Speaker 2: and it derailed him.

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Speaker 3: It finished him off. And so after the.

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Speaker 2: Long weekend, July went trudging back into school to accept

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Speaker 2: the fate of having to cheer for some other kid

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Speaker 2: who had defeated him, and lo and behold July had

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Speaker 2: won the election, and so I'm.

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Speaker 3: Not sure that teaches him the right lesson, or maybe

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Speaker 3: it does. Maybe it is that the best laid plans

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Speaker 3: of mice and men.

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Speaker 2: Nevertheless, you adapt, you'll overcome, because that too will happen

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Speaker 2: because you know, for all our for all our you know,

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Speaker 2: preparation and planning, and that is true, that is something

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Speaker 2: we should do. No matter how much you do that,

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Speaker 2: there is going to be that moment in life where

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Speaker 2: the plan does not go to effect or the plan

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Speaker 2: doesn't go to plan, and.

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Speaker 3: You have to adapt.

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Speaker 2: And that's where your metal is tested. And his metal

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Speaker 2: was tested and he rose to the occasion. It was

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Speaker 2: my endorsement. You think that's what did? It probably helped,

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Speaker 2: So I asked him. He was with Ramon in the

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Speaker 2: afternoon a couple days ago, and I asked him to

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Speaker 2: recreate the speech so that we would have it logged

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Speaker 2: for memory, because you know, my kids are seventeen and eighteen,

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Speaker 2: and you know, like many of you told me for

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Speaker 2: years when they were this age, you know, enjoy every moment,

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Speaker 2: take your photos, say what you need to say, because

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Speaker 2: it time passes, it does, there's nowhere around it, and

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Speaker 2: it's not until the time passes that you realize times

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Speaker 2: going to pass and you'll never be a to recreate

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Speaker 2: that little kid at that age whog. So I filmed

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Speaker 2: him delivering his speech, but the whole thing was still

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Speaker 2: kind of so wrecked in his mind that.

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Speaker 3: He was not he was not delivering.

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Speaker 1: At his highest level.

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Speaker 3: But father is.

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Speaker 2: Very proud, his brother Ali is very proud, Amy is

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Speaker 2: very proud, and of.

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Speaker 1: Course July is proud.

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Speaker 2: And so his career in public service in one way

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Speaker 2: or another has begun. So I don't know if this

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Speaker 2: means because the better bathrooms was just thrown in at

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Speaker 2: the last minute, I don't know now if he's actually

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Speaker 2: committed to the better bathrooms or if it's like Democrats

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Speaker 2: promising to lower inflation and do this and do this,

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Speaker 2: And I.

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Speaker 3: Don't know if it's just a flippant promise, it won't

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Speaker 3: be that.

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Speaker 2: That's worthy of a follow up question right there, Kim Ogg,

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Speaker 2: Harris County's District Attorney's our guests coming up to Michael

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Speaker 2: Mary Show. There are incredibly important races across the country,

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Speaker 2: local races that don't get much attention. If I ask you,

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Speaker 2: who's running to be the next Harris County District Attorney.

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Speaker 2: You might know the answers, but most of your neighbors don't.

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Speaker 2: It's Trump Biden and that's all anyone or Trump Harris

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Speaker 2: and that's all anyone knows. But this race, this office

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Speaker 2: is the most important local office.

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Speaker 3: No questions asked. It is important we get it right.

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Speaker 2: Current Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is our guest.

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Speaker 3: She is not on the ballot in November. Kim Oug,

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Speaker 3: Welcome to.

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Speaker 4: The program, Michael, how are you this morning?

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Speaker 2: I'm good for people that don't understand, perhaps how important

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Speaker 2: the work that office does that you've dedicated your life

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Speaker 2: to for years now.

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Speaker 3: If you were to try to explain, and I'm sure you've.

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Speaker 2: Had to at a cocktail party or at lunch or

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Speaker 2: giving a speech, how that affects the average citizen, what

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Speaker 2: do you say?

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Speaker 4: The average citizen depends on their business to run without

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Speaker 4: interruption from a robbery or a giant embezzlement. The average

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Speaker 4: household family expects to get up and go to school

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Speaker 4: or work without having their child abducted or without being

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Speaker 4: hit by somebody racing on the freeway. Unfortunately, crime occurs,

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Speaker 4: and it impacts our economy and our lives, and the

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Speaker 4: DA's office is the only agency that files and takes

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Speaker 4: these cases through court for the eighty six law enforcement

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Speaker 4: agencies that are here in the Harris County area, and

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Speaker 4: so it's the front door to the criminal justice system.

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Speaker 4: If you're concerned about your safety, you have to be

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Speaker 4: concerned about who your district attorney is.

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Speaker 2: After you indicted three of Lena Hidalgo's top aids in

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Speaker 2: a kind of a bid rigging scheme over the supposed

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Speaker 2: COVID outreach, with perhaps the potential for Lena Hidalgo to

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Speaker 2: been indicted as well, it appeared that a bullseye was

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Speaker 2: placed on you by Rodney Ellis and Democrat insiders because

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Speaker 2: you had you had not you had not done what

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Speaker 2: you were supposed to do. You had hurt the cause.

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Speaker 2: Do you think there was a concerted effort to get

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Speaker 2: you out of the District Attorney's office because of that?

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Speaker 4: I'm positive the Mayor Turner, the former mayor, also investigated

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Speaker 4: by the office. These are on legitimate complaints where Texas

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Speaker 4: Rangers are an independent agencies called in they investigate Rodney's

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Speaker 4: art scheme or Lena Hidalgo's staffers that are that were

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Speaker 4: directing money to specific vendors for specific reasons. These are

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Speaker 4: public corruption cases that are not uncommon in cities. What

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Speaker 4: was uncommon was the reaction of the three people who

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Speaker 4: had been investigated. Instead of cooperating, they fought us at

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Speaker 4: every turn. They tried to manipulate the judges into delaying

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Speaker 4: the investigation until after the trial, and were success until

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Speaker 4: after the primary and they were successful. And so the

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Speaker 4: use of the system by people who fund the system

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Speaker 4: to avoid accountability, both financial and criminal, is rotten, and

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Speaker 4: to address it politically was the easiest way to defend

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Speaker 4: what's really been going on, which is a lot of

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Speaker 4: misuse of your tax dollars by our commissioners and by

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Speaker 4: Mayor Turner and waste is not legal, but when you're

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Speaker 4: funneling it to special interest and friends and folks, you

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Speaker 4: want to engage for political support. Later, they've been very effective.

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Speaker 4: Two billion dollars came here from ARPA from the United

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Speaker 4: States government for our alleged recovery. None of it's spent

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Speaker 4: on police, public safety, prosecutors, or even flooding, and so

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Speaker 4: the two billion is wasted. Now they want to raise

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Speaker 4: our taxes more. They tried to cut my budget by

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Speaker 4: six million dollars, and it's been just one assault after

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Speaker 4: another on Houstonians and they're being sold a bill of goods. Folks,

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Speaker 4: do not vote for these tax hikes. Your money is

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Speaker 4: being sent to other states California, Illinois, New York, and

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Speaker 4: it's probably funneling back into the political system. So it's

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Speaker 4: really it's really been important to pursue these public corroption cases,

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Speaker 4: and the fact that it cost me my job is

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Speaker 4: incidental to me. I have no regrets. We should move

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Speaker 4: forward with this continued scrutiny of our public officials.

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Speaker 2: Harris County District Attorney Kim oug is our guest. When

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Speaker 2: you look at what John Whitmeyer, once he was elected

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Speaker 2: mayor a couple of months in, has stated multiple times

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Speaker 2: publicly that it's far worse. The corruption, the inefficiency, the waste,

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Speaker 2: the ineptitude, the self dealing. It's far worse than ever expected.

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Speaker 2: You just brought a case against a guy, I think

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Speaker 2: Midtown district for self dealing. Of course, we had the

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Speaker 2: marketing director for housing who's gone to federal prison. Of course,

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Speaker 2: we had the mayor's chief of staff who's gone to

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Speaker 2: federal prison for kickbacks during COVID, there was the whistleblower

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Speaker 2: case against Sylvester Turner on the affordable housing where his

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Speaker 2: thirty year law partner, it turns out, got the bid

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Speaker 2: for fewer units for a higher at Harris County. You

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Speaker 2: mentioned Rodney's art scheme, the three indictments for the staffers

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Speaker 2: for Lena hd All go, and you probably know much.

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Speaker 3: More that hasn't been brought.

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Speaker 2: How bad is the waste and corruption, but worse the

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Speaker 2: self dealing going on down there, Because if it's half

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Speaker 2: as bad as I hear it is, it's frightening. I mean,

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Speaker 2: it's third world standards.

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Speaker 4: It's twice as bad as you just described. And Michael,

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Speaker 4: you're hired for our public corruption division. You just gave

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Speaker 4: a rundown of our most important cases against folks who

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Speaker 4: violated the public trust. The Midtown director was not just

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Speaker 4: self dealing, but helping somebody who was involved with make

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Speaker 4: millions of dollars for doing nothing to improve the Midtown area.

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Speaker 4: The water main leaks that were never repaired because of

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Speaker 4: self dealing, and shell companies created by water department employees.

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Speaker 4: These are unsophisticated theft schemes. They are not difficult to

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Speaker 4: find once the records are accessible. Mayor Whitmyer has opened

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Speaker 4: the door and opened the booked to scrutiny, and that

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Speaker 4: has been the most helpful thing in getting to the

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Speaker 4: bottom of exactly how bad Turner's administration was with our

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Speaker 4: money and with their duty to serve the public honestly.

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Speaker 4: And so I would tell you it's bad in looking

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Speaker 4: at the county budget and the things that the money

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Speaker 4: has been spent on, everything except public safety, and so

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Speaker 4: many jobs that are I don't know what they are,

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Speaker 4: their words soup. But we've seen the creation of unneeded departments,

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Speaker 4: the hiring of hundreds of employees for jobs that really

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Speaker 4: don't provide a service to Harris County citizens. And so

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Speaker 4: I think you've hit the nail on the head. I

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Speaker 4: think that they had to go after me politically because

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Speaker 4: I am not going to stop trying to ensure that

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Speaker 4: Houstonians are safe. That's part of my job. But without money,

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Speaker 4: you have a a withering police department. You have a understaffed,

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Speaker 4: an underfunded DA's office. But don't worry, you've got a

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Speaker 4: hugely funded public Defender's office. You got gift cards for

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Speaker 4: defendants so that they can have childcare and free parking

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Speaker 4: during court appearances. We see none of that for crime victims.

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Speaker 4: So you have this openly biased government when it comes

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Speaker 4: to our public safety. And I'm referring to county leadership.

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Speaker 4: So I think there's a lot of room for scrutiny

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Speaker 4: for improvement and as people go to the ballot boxes,

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Speaker 4: especially on these tax issues and on your race for DA. Understand,

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Speaker 4: the nominee who has replaced me through the political attacks

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Speaker 4: that were brought by my own party, is nothing more

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Speaker 4: than a puppet of the people who put him at

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Speaker 4: least in the nomination slot. And that's Hidalgo, that's Ella,

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Speaker 4: and that's Turner. And so that's like having the Fox

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Speaker 4: guard the hen House.

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Speaker 2: And it's frightening how successful they have managed to be.

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Speaker 2: Kim Hogg is our guest. Can you hang with us

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Speaker 2: for one more segment? Absolutely, Harris County disc Attorney Kim

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Speaker 2: Ogg is our guest.

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Speaker 3: We'll continue that conversation with coming.

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Speaker 1: Up Michael Berry's show.

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Speaker 3: Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is our guest.

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Speaker 2: I've known Kim Ogg for right at twenty five years

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Speaker 2: when she was the very effective head of Crime Stoppers,

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Speaker 2: and yes, We have had disagreements over the years, but

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Speaker 2: I think there is, at least on my side of

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Speaker 2: the isle, there is a great deal of respect for

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Speaker 2: her career and a personal respect. I will say this,

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Speaker 2: I knew when Rodney Ellis was running a candidate against

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Speaker 2: her that the chances were they were going to win,

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Speaker 2: because for everything people know and don't know about Rodney Ellis,

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Speaker 2: he's very good at what he does, and he plays

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Speaker 2: for keeps. He plays to win, and he will hit

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Speaker 2: below the belt. Kim On, you lost your party's primary,

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Speaker 2: the Democrat party's primary, and you looked a lot more

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Speaker 2: like a Republican in a Democrat primary than perhaps a

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Speaker 2: Democrat the way that thing came out, and I suspect

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Speaker 2: you're far more popular with Republicans and Democrats today.

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Speaker 3: Happened there.

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Speaker 2: I think it's important that we not mince words and

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Speaker 2: people understand the coup that occurred. The process is the process,

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Speaker 2: but there was a coup and it was because you

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Speaker 2: were doing your job.

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Speaker 3: But I want people to understand from you what happened.

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Speaker 4: The attack on the prosecution we've seen from both sides.

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Speaker 4: In truth, Michael, you know this crime is not a

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Speaker 4: partisan issue. It's a shame that these races are determined

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Speaker 4: by primary voters who turn out at about seven percent,

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Speaker 4: so a majority of the minority. The socialist side of

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Speaker 4: the Democratic Party, the far left, is who Commissioner Ellis

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Speaker 4: and Hidalgo have fostered. They have paid, they have given

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Speaker 4: them grants, they have propped them up, and so they

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Speaker 4: along with the precinct chairs who also have been given

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Speaker 4: positions of importance within the party, different positions to appointed boards, etc.

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Speaker 4: He's been buying up political real estate the entire seven

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Speaker 4: and a half years he's been at the county using

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Speaker 4: our tax dollars. He capitalized when he called in those

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Speaker 4: chits in the last Democratic primary. They ran three people

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Speaker 4: against me in twenty twenty and of course the George

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Speaker 4: Soros money three million dollars came in for my opponent

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Speaker 4: who's now the Democratic nominee that's from Ellis. That is

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Speaker 4: not through that nominees connections. Ellis brought in national money.

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Speaker 4: He utilized local media. The Chronicle seems to eat out

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Speaker 4: of his hand like a pet deer. The information that

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Speaker 4: you read about county government is so misleading. In the

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Speaker 4: Houston Chronicle. I know people say they don't read it.

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Speaker 4: But the problem is there's no truth telling organization. Texan

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Speaker 4: does a good job. Am I a Republican? No, I'm

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Speaker 4: still a Democrat who believes in the same kind of

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Speaker 4: justice and law and order that normal people do. I

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Speaker 4: don't think most Democrats are for having somebody on bail

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Speaker 4: for murder or child rape live next door at their

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Speaker 4: grandmother's house or their girlfriend's aunts apartment. I don't think

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Speaker 4: regular people appreciate what's happening to their public safety here,

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Speaker 4: but they don't understand that it's controlled through the funding

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Speaker 4: of Commissioner's Court in large degree, and so they're being

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Speaker 4: sold to Billy Goods. We've certainly disagreed, but what you

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Speaker 4: and I have always known is that we need police,

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Speaker 4: we need accountability in the system. People will hurt each other,

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Speaker 4: they're mean, they can you know, since the beginning of

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Speaker 4: time and since canaan Abel, we've seen crime occur. So

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Speaker 4: you have to have an order and there have to

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Speaker 4: be laws, and it can only apply to one party,

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Speaker 4: and so being punished for prosecuting people in my own

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Speaker 4: party is a badge of honor. That's the job. If

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Speaker 4: that's what a grand jury and the evidence, well, if

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Speaker 4: that's what the evidence shows, and the grand jury believes,

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Speaker 4: and they indict, then we prosecute. So, regardless of Turner's

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Speaker 4: anger at our prosecution of his public information officer, regardless

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Speaker 4: of Ellis's anger about the investigation into the art he

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Speaker 4: stored on county property, money that's never been recovered by

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Speaker 4: the county attorney, and they don't intend to. It looks

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Speaker 4: like I think, until people wake up and understand that

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Speaker 4: their money is being controlled by somebody who's feeding a

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Speaker 4: false message to them through print media. Till people wise up,

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Speaker 4: we're going to see a county in decline. I'm hopeful

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Speaker 4: with Whitmeyer in the driver's seat in the mayor's office,

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Speaker 4: he can turn this city around. He's been a great

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Speaker 4: partner in routing out corruption county. There's such a little

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Speaker 4: there's so little transparency. It's just hard for people to

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Speaker 4: know what's happening. So I invite them to learn about

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Speaker 4: their county government. Take a look at our county judge

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Speaker 4: and commissioner's decisions about their budget. They elected to defund

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Speaker 4: our homicide division in the last three months of this administration,

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Speaker 4: until Commissioner Ramsey came to the rescue. Truly like the

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Speaker 4: lone Ranger one against four and we were able to

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Speaker 4: get a concession that there would be no layoffs. Amazing.

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Speaker 4: We only have three hundred and fifty lawyers. They were

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Speaker 4: cutting our budget by six million dollars and of course

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Speaker 4: they promised to restore it for the next DA. So

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Speaker 4: other than disruption of our office, I don't know what

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Speaker 4: the point of that budget cut was, other than they

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Speaker 4: want to use the money on something else and don't

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Speaker 4: care about public safety, don't care about crime victims. Thank goodness,

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Speaker 4: Tom Ramsey stepped in and saved the day.

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Speaker 2: Do you think that if you had played ball with

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Speaker 2: Rodney Ellis that Sean Tier would have never run and

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Speaker 2: you'd still be the district attorney.

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Speaker 4: I would have never played ball, But yeah.

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Speaker 3: Do you think that was his plan?

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Speaker 1: The problem was that all for me?

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Speaker 4: That he wants to control every office in the county

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Speaker 4: and pretty well does. People can see what happened to

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Speaker 4: me when I stepped out of line. It doesn't make

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Speaker 4: them inclined to have a backbone and speak out about this.

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Speaker 4: I've been made the example. I think that's good for Houstonians.

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Speaker 4: I'm okay, I'm kim oug. I've had the same job,

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Speaker 4: trying to protect the public all my life in different roles.

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Speaker 4: That's what I believe is right. And so folks who

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Speaker 4: are looking for something different out of government, whether it's

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Speaker 4: personal wealth or recognition or you know, invites to free parties,

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Speaker 4: I'm not sure what the point is. I thought it

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Speaker 4: was our greater good. Yes, things might have been different

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Speaker 4: had I not played ball, but that's just not a scenario.

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Speaker 4: I can't imagine taking this oath as district attorney, your

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Speaker 4: top law enforcement official, and.

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Speaker 1: Not meaning it.

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Speaker 4: And that oath was to see that everybody is equal

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Speaker 4: under the law, meaning nobody is above the law, especially

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Speaker 4: the elected folks that we've been talking about. But that's

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Speaker 4: the way they've played.

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Speaker 2: It that way.

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Speaker 3: Can you hold back?

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Speaker 4: All right?

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Speaker 3: Kim og Our, Harris County District Attorney. Coming up.

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Speaker 1: The Michael Berry Show. I went home with the oasis

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Speaker 1: the way I always do.

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Speaker 4: How was that.

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Speaker 3: She was away of the russ to.

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Speaker 2: Back in twenty twenty two, there was a sheriff's deputy,

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Speaker 2: young kids at home, driving home to see them, and.

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Speaker 3: He shot through the window and killed.

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Speaker 2: Pretty terrible, awful thing to happen, And I wonder how

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Speaker 2: many people realize how the murderers were actually caught.

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Speaker 3: Kime Out.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if you've told the story publicly, but

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Speaker 2: I know a lot of folks in law enforcement and elsewhere,

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Speaker 2: and this story has become legend.

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Speaker 3: Would you like to tell how you caught the bad guys?

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Speaker 4: Well, I can't take the credit. Law enforcement over at

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Speaker 4: the Homicide Division caught the murderers. This is Deputy Erson.

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Speaker 4: Is that who you're talking about? He was gone to

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Speaker 4: He was headed out just to pick up some fast

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Speaker 4: food for his family on a Sunday afternoon. Late he

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Speaker 4: was shot through his car window by two murderers. The

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Speaker 4: police were able to immediately identify the car, but the

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Speaker 4: film did not capture the license plate. They knew two

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Speaker 4: individuals were involved, but they couldn't identify them through the

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Speaker 4: vehicle windows.

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Speaker 1: They had the idea.

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Speaker 4: Because so many people are on bond of investigating who

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Speaker 4: had an ankle monitor on in that vicinity at that time,

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Speaker 4: and like the Latto, but much better odds. It was

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Speaker 4: immediately learned that two defendants, one out on a bond

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Speaker 4: for capital murder the other out on a bond for murder,

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Speaker 4: were in fact the culprits. They've been charged. They're charged

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Speaker 4: with capital murder, they are likely to face the death penalty.

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Speaker 4: That's been our decision, and the judges reacted in an

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Speaker 4: odd way. Some did. Now, law enforcement and prosecutors are

439
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 4: required in our criminal district courts, felony courts to ask

440
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 4: the judges to sign an order so that law enforcement

441
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 4: and the prosecutors can get records of people's activity as

442
00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,040
Speaker 4: supervised by the pre Trial Services Group while on bond,

443
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 4: even and for murder, even when it's to try and

444
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 4: solve a new murder. I've never seen that requirement. It's

445
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,240
Speaker 4: something unique to Harris County and it's just not the

446
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,880
Speaker 4: way things are supposed to be. Cops should not be

447
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 4: impeded in the timing of their investigation by these requirements

448
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 4: of Mother May I to the courts who are responsible

449
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 4: for supervising criminals on bond while awaiting trial. So we

450
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,880
Speaker 4: have a unique approach by our judiciary. It's not mimicked

451
00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 4: elsewhere in the state. And it's a public safety issue.

452
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:43,000
Speaker 4: And so that's the basis of some legislation that I

453
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 4: think crime victims will be seeking in the next session

454
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,880
Speaker 4: from their state representatives and senators the ability to get

455
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 4: to the evidence of bad acts by people on bond

456
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 4: instead of being impeded. Because it's embarrassing when folks commit

457
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 4: crimes and they're under your provision. It's just amazing what's

458
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 4: happening to our system, and regardless of party, it's imperative

459
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:16,040
Speaker 4: that we stop it. It's a mentality that just doesn't

460
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,240
Speaker 4: work in the real world that people are going to

461
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 4: go out who are charged with murder and capital murder

462
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 4: and what go get jobs. I mean, it's just not

463
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,520
Speaker 4: a realistic position. And you'll hear the excuse that the

464
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,960
Speaker 4: law demands this. Don't blame the law. The law places

465
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 4: the responsibility on our judiciary to make decisions balancing the

466
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,520
Speaker 4: interests of keeping us safe and ensuring somebody has the

467
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,920
Speaker 4: right to defend themselves adequately. I believe in both rights.

468
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 4: But judges are charged with making a decision, and when

469
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,440
Speaker 4: they make decisions in favor of criminals and their interests

470
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:54,680
Speaker 4: over our public safety, I think that's a concern and

471
00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,080
Speaker 4: it should not be being promoted. So that's some of

472
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,560
Speaker 4: the stuff that's happening. I imagine that's what you've heard

473
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 4: from COMPS, is that they're having trouble getting warrants, getting

474
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,440
Speaker 4: a warrants son having trouble having trouble getting orders that

475
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 4: were not necessary a year.

476
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,440
Speaker 2: Ago, kim on Harris County District Attorney. I asked that

477
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 2: to lead into two questions, the first being, you made

478
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,760
Speaker 2: a statement that got a lot of attention about a

479
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,640
Speaker 2: month or so ago when you laid out, actually, how

480
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,880
Speaker 2: many people are walking the streets next to our sons

481
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 2: and daughters, mothers and fathers, wives and husbands and brothers

482
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:37,080
Speaker 2: and sisters and friends who are out on a murder

483
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:41,080
Speaker 2: charge and they're out on a bond, walking around seemingly

484
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 2: with nothing to lose.

485
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 3: And that number shocked people.

486
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:51,479
Speaker 4: That number is over eight hundred people charged with murder

487
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:55,040
Speaker 4: or capital murder on bond or on the lamb, meaning

488
00:32:55,040 --> 00:33:00,600
Speaker 4: they're fugitives living among us or somewhere in this country

489
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:07,760
Speaker 4: or world. They're out there. We've got another eight hundred

490
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 4: in pending status, meaning we've got seventeen hundred total people

491
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 4: currently charged. And police are getting better at solving these

492
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 4: crimes because of the cameras and phones. The evidence is

493
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,720
Speaker 4: just replete generally, and that's how they're solving so many

494
00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:30,440
Speaker 4: more cases. How do I know that it's they're filing

495
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:36,680
Speaker 4: double the number of homicides solved, homicides that they did

496
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 4: even as late as twenty eighteen. So instead of two

497
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,680
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty filed homicides, we're seeing more than four

498
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 4: hundred and twenty in a year. Those are filed cases

499
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 4: out of a probable total of about six hundred and

500
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,560
Speaker 4: some murders each year county wide. So we'll be we'll

501
00:33:55,600 --> 00:34:00,800
Speaker 4: be posting those numbers on our website starting October. They're

502
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:04,920
Speaker 4: obtained from four different police departments biweekly, and we keep

503
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 4: our own homicide count because if you read or listen

504
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,000
Speaker 4: to media, I'm afraid what you hear is that crime

505
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 4: is down. What our numbers show is that there were

506
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:20,359
Speaker 4: more people murdered in twenty twenty two than in the

507
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 4: past thirty years, the highest number since nineteen ninety two.

508
00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:29,719
Speaker 4: And you know, we were known back in the late

509
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,480
Speaker 4: eighties as the murder capital of the world. So when

510
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,879
Speaker 4: you ask what is the importance of the DA, how

511
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,160
Speaker 4: would you like that for your economic slogan, trying to

512
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 4: invite people to live or do business here. The murder

513
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:45,720
Speaker 4: capital of the country that was Houston in the late eighties,

514
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,520
Speaker 4: early nineties. We cannot let that happen again. We have

515
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:55,120
Speaker 4: to invest in our own safety. So don't let your

516
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,520
Speaker 4: money be wasted. Know what your commissioners are spending their

517
00:34:58,560 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 4: money on.

518
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:00,120
Speaker 1: Know what you're say.

519
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 3: Segment. I want to talk about the judges, sure, all right,

520
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:07,120
Speaker 3: hanging tight.

521
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,759
Speaker 2: I want to talk about the control Rodney Ellis and

522
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 2: George Sorows and the Social Democrats have over these judges,

523
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,640
Speaker 2: because I hear stories from the judges communities about the

524
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:23,520
Speaker 2: fact that they are scared to death to allow a

525
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,840
Speaker 2: conviction of a murderer in their court or they'll be

526
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:26,760
Speaker 2: kicked out of office.

527
00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,080
Speaker 3: Exactly what was done to Kim up Coming up